


This Side Up

by Palmtree_Panicking



Category: Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Character Study, Dialogue Heavy, Fluff, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Smash Mansion, Swearing, a ton of it!!, but basically hes still babey, i just really like snake okay, important note: snake is characterized as post mgs1 and its up to u whether hes post mgs2 or not, in the later chapters anyway, teensy tiny implied angst, the actual title of this fic is “snake makes friends with everyone both on purpose and by accident”
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2020-12-21 04:01:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21068486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palmtree_Panicking/pseuds/Palmtree_Panicking
Summary: A collection of shorts about Solid Snake, and his interactions with certain fighters.[May vary in length.]





	1. Samus.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _   
“Her Arm Cannon packs quite a wallop. If you get hit with a charged shot from that thing, you can kiss your butt good-bye.”   
_

* * *

When Snake first arrived at the Smash Mansion, despite bracing himself for the probable insanity he was about to experience, there were still things that constantly caught him off-guard. There were those who looked human yet easily deceived him; some who were bipedal, animal-like in their ways; one was even a robot, shooting lasers and rolling around like it owned the place.

Nowadays, many more have come along as he once did, but even before he pulled up to the probable core of all worlds, there were a few that had participated before him in the two tournaments beforehand. Twelve, around twenty by the second round — but one who had been here from the start,_ has _been here from the start, is Samus Aran, of whom Snake can’t help but stare at whenever she enters the scene.

Varia Suit or not, her entire being is intriguing, being someone from a world where space is far and wide. Apparently, outer space travel is a common occurrence for a few others in the tournament, yet to this day, it’s something the battle-hardened soldier can’t even begin to imagine. He’s always been on Earth; a place of which he’s learnt to despise with all of his being.

...Sometimes, he thinks about whether or not he’d be able to escape the surface. Free himself from his fate, the one he resigned himself to so long ago. For as much as Snake likes to retire, his supervisors always like it more when he’s their lap dog, fighting the wars they caused.

(He wonders if Samus would be able to show him the wonders of space. Someday. Maybe.)

“Snake,” And he almost flinches at the unfamiliar voice calling his name, as he looks up from the weapon he polishes, only to be face-to-face with the bounty hunter herself.

“Samus.”

“The others were wondering about you.” The blonde nudges her head towards the table behind the duo, in which a handful of younger fighters in the tournament sit, gawking at the black-clad soldier. One even waves in Snake’s presence, totally awed.

“Hm?” Snake indulges, cocking a brow.

“Ness was asking if you ever fired a ‘bottle rocket’ before.” Samus quotes in a stoic, deadpan tone, yet Snake sees past her stone-cold exterior, sensing just a smidge of amusement in her delivery.

“...I can’t say that I have.” The soldier shrugs, casually polishing the SOCOM pistol in his hands. “Not that I’ve ever heard of one before.”

“Me neither.” Samus replies, leaning against the wall at this point. “But Ness seemed excited enough to see you in the common area for once.”

Snake hums to himself, drawing his eyes away from the unmasked blonde to his side. “I have no idea why he’d think that.”

The bounty hunter smirks for a second, spying through the brunet’s tone. “Do you really think so?”

“Beats me.” Snake returns the expression, the worn rag over his hand almost a different colour entirely thanks to its previous stains.

A comfortable silence overtakes the two, with Samus breathing a heavy sigh. She tucks a loose strand of her hair behind her ears, before turning and waving some kind of gesture towards one of the kids in the distance, who shoots a thumbs-up back.

“...Were you raised in space?” Snake suddenly blurts out, catching the almost-hidden look of confusion on Samus’ face. He clears his throat, “I mean… you aren’t from Earth, are you?”

The blue-eyed woman’s gaze softens. “...Yes.” She looks away from Snake, straightening up, and thus he shuts his mouth and doesn’t elaborate further.

_ ‘After Space Pirates killed her parents, she was raised by the Chozo and trained in the fighting arts.’ _ Otacon’s codec comes to mind for a moment, and Snake frowns. _ Obviously a touchy subject. _

Samus notes the spy’s expression, her look stoic as ever.

“...What is it like, being a bounty hunter?” Snake attempts to change the subject.

“It’s an experience.” The blonde takes in stride, her words chosen carefully and almost rehearsed. “As much as the wars you fight.”

Snake slowly nods, toying with the pistol in his hands as his gaze wanders around all the corners and makings of the weapon. “Experience, huh…”

Samus nods, once and in tune.

_ ‘She's been places and seen things that people like you and me can't even begin to imagine.’ _Otacon’s voice echoes once more.

“...I suppose,” Snake draws out his words, “that our experiences make us who we are. Even the ones that bring us down.”

“...Yeah.” Samus acknowledges the sentiment, and a tiny, bittersweet smile crosses her features, just for a moment.

The chatter of the common room surrounds two, a comforting atmosphere compared to their own worlds.

(How he wished it could always be this way.)

The brunet looks back at the space farer, who, after one more nod of acknowledgement, goes over to join the other younger smashers at their table once more. Snake watches as one of them, a more withdrawn child, shows off his powers, to the constant nagging of the others, who all erupt in cheers thereafter.

_ “So much for a cold exterior,” _He playfully sighs to himself, resting his chin on his palms.

[time!]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo! welcome to this mini project i spurred up outta nowhere :D i just really like snake as a character, and i like everybody else as a character, so here we are :3
> 
> more chapters to come !! try to guess the next character, its none of the ones mentioned in this chap tho so you’ll probably get it wrong im so sorry—
> 
> anyway thanks for reading!! hope to see u again, have a good day/night/whatever timezone ur in !! 💖💗💗💞❤️💞💖❤️❤️


	2. Isabelle.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
_Data irretrievable._   


* * *

_ ‘--And remember, Snake,’ _ The aforementioned recalls his codec with Otacon just this morning, before another scheduled fight was to begin. _ ‘She may look cute, but she’s got a whole array of objects at her disposal, including a fireworks canister that can send you into the air if you’re near it. Be careful!’ _

“Got it,” And before Snake can hang up--

_ ‘Oh, right, I almost forgot - if you hurt her, I will continuously scream at you through this codec until you apologize.’ _

“...Right.”

_ The only reason Otacon said that, _ Snake thinks to himself, _ is because he feels bad for spying on a walking, talking shih tzu. _

He stands toe-to-toe with the yellow, admittedly-adorable dog on what most refer to this arena as the “Battlefield”. Snake almost feels uncomfortable, having to go up against a…_ form _of his favourite animal, with all this high-grade military gear at his disposal, but ever since he first joined these tournaments - actually, ever since he first started playing fetch with the American government back on Shadow Moses Island -, he’s been trying to get past his initial bias of underestimation. This applies to the anthropomorphic dog person in-front of him, of whom barely reaches his knees.

_ “Hello!” _ She cries out from way over _ there, _ and Snake has to convince himself he’s not going insane every time the shih tzu opens its mouth. _ “You’re Solid Snake, right? I’m Isabelle! It’s nice to meet you!” _

_ Oh my god, _and now Snake just feels terrible because as much as these tournaments defy logic concerning bloodshed, he’s still going to have to shoot this fucking dog in the face.

_ And dogs, _ as he will state once more, _ are basically his spirit animal. _

Even as the countdown begins, she _ \- Isabelle? - _ still continues to shout things to Snake, including _ “I hope you’re having a good day, Mr. Snake!” _ and _ “If I hurt you, I’m really sorry in advance!” _

_ Isn’t the whole point of this tournament’s existence along the lines of beating each other to a pulp? _Snake more or less tries to convince himself that at this second, and suddenly the round has begun and off they go!

The duo already exchange blows right out of the gate — Snake uses grenades, C4s, and even a missile launcher, while Isabelle continues to set off party poppers_ (which are loud and distracting and do not help Snake at all) _and trip over potted plants, even catching Snake off-guard at certain points.

Eventually, after enough shots to the face_ (of which Snake just feels really, really bad about even though he thought he buried his empathy towards specifically small things a long time ago) _and stop signs appearing out of nowhere, Snake has resigned himself to the highest platform, quickly setting up more of his gear. His energy is completely drained, yet Isabelle doesn’t look so good either.

It’s just a question of who gets the last hit, and Snake quickly presses an RPG-7 to the ground, a—

_ Crack! _

“Fu—“ Before Snake can traumatise many of those watching the match, he’s off into the sky, the sudden blast of fireworks from below enough to launch him away and out into the losing boundaries.

(Snake can _feel _Otacon chastising him from worlds away.)

_ ‘Game!’ _

Eventually, Snake finds himself back at the mansion, meeting back with the others, who all congratulate him on a good try. At least it makes him feel a little bit better, though the brunet isn’t too fussed about losing to a yellow-furred bipedal dog.

“Don’t worry about it, Snake,” Pit attempted to comfort the harden soldier earlier, “I couldn’t beat Isabelle either. She’s really crafty!”

Speaking of which, Isabelle suddenly bursts through the doors, and all the fighters crowd around her, celebrating her victory, and she even earns her a nice, refreshing piece of fruit from the kid who apparently resembles her_ boss _— Snake quickly douses the thought before it can latch itself onto his subconscious.

Suddenly, upon her constant _ thank-you’s _to the others, the anthropomorphic dog notices Snake sitting at the back with an ice pack to his cheek, and her cartoonishly-beady eyes widen, a gasp escaping her.

“Snaaaaake!” She cries out, dashing over to him faster than that blue hedgehog he doesn’t really like. “Are you okay?! I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to_ hurt you I feel so bad I’m so sorry did I tell you I apologize for my actions—?!” _

“Woah, it’s alright.” Snake is quickly brushing off the dog’s concerns, though her sympathy is appreciated. “I-It’s not too bad, you put up a good fight.”

“B-but still…!” The brunet swears Isabelle is tearing up, and now he’s just stuck on what to do.

“It’s just a part of these tournaments.” Snake casually shrugs. “Don’t worry about it.”

The yellow-furred dog looks at him with a really sad pout on her face, and Snake just feels really fucking bad (for the millionth time today,_ it’s his love of dogs okay—), _ so he awkwardly reaches out a hand and _ pat. _

“Uh—“ _ Pat pat. _“—It’s okay. I’m not mad at you.”

Isabelle, surprisingly, nudges into his touch, her tail softly wagging. “...Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Snake lifts up his hand for a second, flashing a thumbs-up. _ Do animals in her world get pats…? _

Isabelle sighs, bowing her head. “As long as you say so.” She looks up again, a chipper smile on her face. Out of nowhere, she offers the piece of fruit she was gifted - a ripe-looking orange - to Snake, and he doesn’t have the energy to argue against her decision, hesitantly accepting it while muttering a small_ “thanks”. _

“You put up a good fight too, you know! We should brawl again sometime!” Isabelle cheerfully exclaims, a stark contrast to herself from earlier.

Snake nods thoughtfully. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Isabelle grins one more time, before she’s called over for a group photo with other previous victors from earlier in the day, and she’s off with a quick wave towards the former soldier, who coolly returns it.

Suddenly, there’s a buzz from his codec, and Snake braces himself, putting two fingers behind his ear.

“This is Solid Sna—“

_ “Told you so!” _Otacon laughs from the other side, and Snake more or less groans.

[time!]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hewwo again!!!  
i actually adore the duo the fandom created with these two, tough guy and literal puppy fight and become friends is my new favourite character dynamic tbh  
one of the previous commentors guessed the next character correctly, get ready for everyone's favourite walking, semi-talking ball of adorableness, coming soon to nintendo sw-- *shot*


	3. Kirby.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
_"He's got a powerful stomach that lets him swallow and digest anything."_   


* * *

Snake woke up this morning to find part of his cardboard box stash missing.

As much as the other fighters tease him for it, the mercenary has an affinity for them -- cardboard boxes saved his life more times than he could probably count, and it isn’t like they’re hurting anyone. However, Snake doesn’t have the differences between his and all these other worlds down-pat. For all he knows, cardboard boxes could be harbingers of evil in someone else’s universe.

...He’d ask, but then again, the whole idea of a hardened super soldier finding solace in a packaging vessel probably wouldn’t be taken seriously enough to harbor that kind of question.

(the world scares him, and so does everyone else, maybe except for Hal but that’s not the point)

Anyway, back to the super important problem at hand - a few of his nets are gone. They’re not where he usually stores them, and he hasn’t told _ anyone  _ where he places them. He doesn’t remember having anyone over last night, so maybe he just misplaced them, except _ Snake Never Misplaces His Cardboard Boxes. _

There’s snickering from outside his door. The brunet stares at it, narrowing his eyes, standing still right in the middle of his room. 

A hushed whisper. _ “Do you think he’ll notice?” _

It’s Ness’ voice. Snake falters; just a harmless prank, even though they’ve stolen something from him that means a whole lot, _ even  _ if they’re just box nets.

_ “Woomy!”  _ It’s one of the inklings - it’s not just Ness at work, Snake notes.

He waits, listening out for any other potential comments.

There’s a cue of silence.

Suddenly, there’s a knock, and the sound of laughter and running footsteps echoing away soon after. 

Snake cocks an eyebrow. If he’s correctly assuming, what kind of prank would they do with a packaging box?

Slowly, he inches over to his door. His hand slides over the handle, and he carefully turns it, a loose grip just in case.

It quietly creeks open. Snake leans over, looking through the crack, and sees the edge of an folded cardboard box.

His eyes widen; he opens the door a little wider, revealing a perfect, barely tampered-with box. It’s one of the tournament-branded prints, the words _ ‘Smash Bros’  _ being clearly visible on its side. Snake lets out a small _ ‘huh’  _ under his breath, opening the door fully. He unconsciously rubs away at the sleep in his eyes, adjusting the casual shirt he wears - white with a blank-red exclamation mark branded on it.

Suddenly, the box shifts.

Snake crouches, his brows knitted together. He instinctively reaches for something that isn’t there, grabbing at the thin air next to his sweatpants.

_ Wait, wait, the kids put this here,  _ His train of thought is up and running, ten minutes behind schedule, _ it’s probably just another one of them in there. As you said before, a harmless prank. _

...Snake can’t help but scoff at himself. No need to take this one seriously. 

“Alright, you can come out now.” His voice is low, calmer than usual.

The box doesn’t move.

The mercenary waits for a second. He crouches lower, almost losing his balance. He stares at the box, trying to work out who would possibly volunteer to hide in it.

It stirs to the left. Snake hears a muffled, high-pitched grunt coming from the box.  _ Vocal -- definitely not Villager. _

He reaches out, and lightly pushes the box. It thumps against whoever’s hiding in there, and there’s a sound of protest. _ Wouldn’t be Ness or the inkling either, considering they both ran off. _

Snake waits a little while longer.

Then his impatience gets to him and he quietly avenges all those times he was caught before by grabbing and throwing the box off. 

He’s met with a doe-eyed, adorably-pink puffball.

  
  
Snake’s mouth quirks up at the side when he notices the black, torn fabric tied around their forehead. “Kirby.”

Kirby doesn’t skip a beat, waving up at the mercenary with a big smile on his face -- a sharpied-on beard relaying a perfect reflection. “Haaaai!” 

There’s howls from down the hall, more than what Ness and Inkling could provide, and Snake rolls his eyes, a slight smile on his face. Kirby starts jumping up and down, laughing along with the other kids. 

Mega Man runs in, a sharpie tucked behind his unhelmeted ear, sheepishly untying Kirby’s mock headband as he dashes back off to the others, who all run down the stairs to the next floor.

Snake sighs in amusement, shaking his head. “Wonder where that came from.”

“Poyo!” Kirby runs around the mercenary, and into his room. 

Snake quickly whirls around, “What the--”

“Poyo poi!” Kirby beckons the mercenary forward _ , into his own room no less _ , more cardboard nets in hand _ (and mouth,  _ Snake grimaces). He quickly nudges the brunet’s side, gesturing the unfolded boxes up. “Po-byo?”

“Did you nab this box from me?” Snake points to the one in his hands.

“Byo-bo.” Kirby’s voice is muffled by the net in his mouth. Even then, he doesn’t look too ashamed of his actions, still holding the other nets up to the soldier. “Po-bo.”

“Ah, I see.” Snake nods along. “So you snuck in, stole a box, let the others fold it up for you and now you want more.”

“Pyo!” Kirby nods, somehow smiling through the-- _ okay, enough acknowledging that. _ He nears closer to the brunet, lifting the stack of cardboard up in the air as high as he can.

Snake can barely take the puffball seriously, what with the shakingly-drawn beard on his face, but he manages not to break his stoic outlook. “...Fine.”

“Poy!” Kirby spits out the net in his mouth, and dumps the cardboard at Snake’s feat. “Poyo poi.” He states, staring the mercenary right in the eye.

“...Alright then.” Snake kneels down, placing the already-folded box in his hands onto the carpeted floor. He grabs a net, showing it to Kirby, who rapidly nods, waving as to say _ ‘go on’. _

“Watch.” Snake starts folding up one side, and another, and then another. Kirby watches, absolutely floored, judging by how his eyes are as wide as saucers. A perfect fold there, another Snake instinctively refolds - eventually, he places a perfectly-rectangular cardboard box down on the pile of four or five other spare nets.

Kirby looks to Snake, and back to the box, his mouth comically agape.

“Waa--?!” He shouts, grabbing the box and placing it on himself. 

Snake smirks at the total concealment of the pink puffball, before he lifts it up, handing the currently-hidden Kirby a net for himself.

Kirby then (violently) throws the cardboard box he was just hiding in straight at the wall, attempting to fold his very own vessel. Snake watches as Kirby tries, tries again, does an admittedly-alright fold, before the puffball angrily glares at the net in his paws, proceeding to open his mouth and suck it up in an instant.

He looks to Snake, cheeks puffed up, with possibly the most amount of rage the pink creature can muster, and for once the super soldier feels intimidated.

“...Good attempt.” Snake puts his hands up in surrender, and Kirby, on cue, swallows the net whole.

  
  


[time!]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> local man teaches extraterrestrial to fold boxes
> 
> next character (or two owowowow) has been depicted alongside snake in a certain smash bros mode before! try and guess whom they be :33 (also im bad at writing under 1000 words, these are not drabbles im so sorry)


	4. Subspace Friends (Lucario + Meta Knight).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
_“Every time Lucario's damage increases, his Aura gains strength, making his attacks more powerful.”_   
_“They say Meta Knight’s sword swings can break the sound barrier. Whatever you do, don't get caught in one of his furious barrage attacks.”_   


* * *

In the recreation room, a trio of three familiar figures sit around a small table, sunken into the worn, yet comfy armchairs from tournaments prior.

“Your turn.” Meta Knight says, gesturing to Snake. The aforementioned hits the bumper in the centre of the board, grunting when the dice inside flips onto three. He lifts up one of his travelling pieces, passing through blue territory and into red, landing on one of Lucario’s tokens.

_ “Darn.”  _ The Pokemon’s voice reaches the other two, as Snake hands him his piece, a cocky smirk plastered on his face. Lucario returns the token back to its starting area,  _ “Just one more roll and I would’ve been safe.” _

The mercenary quietly chuckles. “I’ve got another piece of yours to catch.”

_ “Except it’s no longer your turn.”  _ Lucario retorts, huffing. He turns to Meta Knight,  _ “Go ahead.” _

The swordwielder pounds the centrefold bumper, landing a two. Snake’s eyes widen as Meta Knight moves his further-behind token, right onto the soldier’s own.

“...Goddammit.” Snake groans, begrudgingly accepting his now-replaced piece.

Meta Knight’s mask hides most of the amusement in his eyes. “Remember who else is playing before you take your chances.”

_ “You could’ve avoided being kicked before if you moved that specific token,”  _ Lucario agrees, nodding his head. _ “You just had to go for me, didn’t you?” _

“Can it, you two.” Yet Snake is smiling. He gestures to the Pokemon, “Your turn.”

Lucario rolls a perfect six, much to the annoyance of everyone. He chooses to move his only token through Snake’s territory, over his piece and into the yellow side.

“Could’ve resurrected the one I killed, you know.” The soldier deadpans.

_ “I want to get at least one of my pieces in.”  _ Lucario shrugs.

The board game goes on, as the banter between the three dies down. Eventually, Snake falls to third place, Meta Knight having returned three of his pieces back to his territory and into the safe area.

Lucario does get at least one of his pieces back too -- leaving Snake with most of his tokens out, yet nowhere near his own territory.

“...You know,” Meta Knight begins. The other two look up from the board. “It was lonely without you at the last tournament, Snake.”

For a split-second, Snake freezes. His throat dries up. 

Then he shakes his head, averting his gaze. “...No. I-- there’s a reason they didn’t invite me back.”

_ _ Lucario growls out-loud, though not unkindly. Snake attempts to ignore the sympathetic look the Pokemon gives him.  _ “It’s not the reason you assume. I sense your timidness at the subject.” _

“Timi--? What? No.” Snake scoffs at the thought, forgetting about the Aura Pokemon’s abilities. “Look, it was just one tournament. You guys obviously survived without me.”

“Doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard.” Meta Knight casually presses the bumper, a fresh six greeting him with the opportunity to free his last token. “Especially for the two of us. It was not the same without you.”

The hardened soldier studies the duo in-front of him, unconsciously narrowing his eyes. 

A period of silence follows.

Snake eventually loosens up, letting out a breath he didn’t know he held. “I don’t even know what kind of difference I made in the first place.” He rolls a four, moving his token across. His eyes flicker downwards. “...But thanks. I guess.”

He doesn’t miss the soft smile from the Pokemon in-front of him.  _ “You have many reasons to deny the connections you make with others, don’t you?” _

Snake scoffs. “If that’s what you believe.” He mutters to himself, before shaking his head, meeting the gaze of the others again. “Lucario, your turn.”

_“Oh, right.” _The Pokemon nods aloofly, hitting the bumper and smirking as the dice rolls onto five. Meta Knight flinches as Lucario’s piece lands right on his.

_ “Strike!”  _ Lucario has a toothy grin on his face as he flicks Meta Knight’s token off the board.

“Not again!” The navy puffball cries, a stark contrast to his usual nature. He sighs, slouching into his chair as Snake places the knight’s piece back in its starting area. “Hmm… the dice seem to be working against me.”

This theory is proven correct as Meta Knight rolls a one, unable to move his final piece. There’s a glint of confidence in Snake’s eyes, as he successfully gets one of his tokens home.

In the background of the scene, Daisy and Luigi come running in, the former pulling the latter along to that pachinko machine that Snake, for some reason, despises with all of his being (his words).

Lucario gets his third token in, now in the same place as Meta Knight. Snake leans in, determination filling his very core to win against the two.

Midway through the pachinko game going on in the corner (in which Daisy keeps threatening to bash the machine with her golf club for extra change while Luigi constantly begs her not to), a small plastic ball suddenly goes flying, bouncing off Snake’s head _ (“what the fuck“)  _ and onto the wooden floorboards. 

Lucario clamps down hard on his lip, snorting at the sight.

“We should do this more often.” The knight muses. “In my world, it’s not often you see these… ‘board games’.”

Snake slowly nods. “...It’s a good excuse to catch up with you both.” A flicker of a smile passes by, of which the Pokemon and knight seemingly catch.

Suddenly, Meta Knight rolls a six, and gets his last token out of his safe area. He’s about to roll again, when a sudden _ explosion  _ rocks the entire mansion, sending the trio and board to the ground.

“What the—?!”

The distant noise settles down, as a blur of blue zooms past the recreation room, laughing all the way. Snake and Meta Knight sit up, scratching their heads, while behind them, Lucario mourns the game they were playing.

_ “Not my winning streak!”  _ He cries out, howling sadly. The pachinko machine in the corner is completely on its side, Daisy and Luigi clinging onto each other in total shock.

...Then a bunch of change starts piling out of it, and the orange-clad princess cheers. “We did it!” She starts scooping it up, Luigi sighing to himself _ (“I did absolutely nothing…”) _ .

Snake suddenly gets to his feet.  _ “The hedgehog.”  _ He storms out, leaving his subspace friends behind.

Meta Knight turns to Lucario, who shares the wide-eyed realisation. 

“...Oh no.”

[time!]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh fuck its the hedgehog boy!! and according to one of snake's codecs, for some reason, he "just doesn't like [sonic]." what will happen next teim?? i have no idea
> 
> (btw, the trio were playing "trouble", which is a fantastic board game and if you recognized it before you read this you deserve all my love)


	5. Sonic.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
_“Snake, what is it?”_   
_“...? Oh, you mean Sonic The Hedgehog?”_   
_“But everyone loves Sonic. He's a big star.”_
> 
> _“But...why? You must have some kind of reason.”_  
  


* * *

“...Nope, just don’t like him.” Snake replies, his voice a low, gruff whisper. He’s pressed up against the walls of the second-floor hallway, tracking down a certain hedgehog who literally rocked the mansion earlier.

_ “So why did you ask about him?!”  _ Otacon retorts, frustration evident in his voice. _ “The only other thing I can tell you is his attack patterns! And you’re not even in battle!” _

“Just needed a refresher.” Snake cooly states, shrugging against the plaster he leans on. “That hedgehog’s up to something, I know it.”

_ “Seriously, there  _ ** _has _ ** _ to be a reason you don’t like Sonic.”  _ Otacon groans. _ “Do you know how excited everyone gets whenever he shows up to these tournaments? He’s more famous than you know, Snake!” _

Snake only grumbles under his breath. He mutes the codec for a second, ignoring the lingering, somewhat-confused stare from an obese penguin who walks by. 

Slowly, he edges closer, closer to the edge of the wall he sneaks besides.

“Hiya!”   
  


_ “Shi--”  _ The sound of an alarm blares in Snake’s head -- he recoils, leaping back, crouching onto the ground and grabbing the nearest weapon he’s got. He points it at whoever…

_ ...Oh. _

Sonic stares at him, his expression wide-eyed and specifically on the _ gun  _ in the mercenary’s hands.

He quickly hides his reaction with a hesitant chuckle, his hands up by way of habit. “H-hey, Snake-- you’re Snake, right?”

The hedgehog’s grin stretches wider, the smallest glint of fangs near the corners of his mouth. His brows curve upwards, and now his grin looks more shaky then composed.

“... _ yyyes.”  _ Snake, letting out a breath, slowly puts the SOCOM pistol away, his eyes flickering away from Sonic and back. 

“Hah! Y-Yeah!” Sonic laughs again, though it seems a pinch more genuine. “Uh-- the one and only?”

Snake stares at the hedgehog, as if it were an animal that somehow grew tall and learnt how to talk. He thins his lips for a second, “...Yes.”

Sonic. Sonic,  _ the  _ Hedgehog.

Truth be told, Snake didn’t like him much - specifically in the third tournament. The hedgehog arrived later in the competition, and from what the soldier observed he seemed to adore being the centre of attention. Now, of course, Snake never _ fought him,  _ or got to know him _ personally,  _ but from past experiences opening yourself up to…  _ certain  _ people only ended in betrayal.

And Sonic? He didn’t, and still doesn’t seem like someone Snake would hang out with. He’s open. Loud. Something the hardened soldier could never even be.

No matter how hard he tries--  _ tried. _

The duo stand in silence, the tension cutting through to an awkward ambiance. Sonic shuffles in place, kicking his feet shyly - similar to what Luigi does when he’s about to pull his “ultimate killer move”, as dubbed by most of the mansion.

(--To be honest, Snake doesn’t really think of most people in a grey-morality sense. Not when it comes to anthropomorphic blue hedgehogs, anyway.)

After a few seconds - in which they feel more like hours -, Sonic’s eyes slowly wander upwards, and the hedgehog suddenly bites his lip, snorting.

“...What?” Snake blinks, frowning, before he angles his head just a little and _ oh, for fucks sake. _

“Is that normal for ya?” Sonic nods towards the giant, red exclamation point above the mercenary’s head.

“No.” Snake instantly retorts.

The hedgehog before him tilts his head, cocking an eyebrow, or eyeridge, or whatever substitutes for one because Snake really can’t tell and he _ really, really doesn’t want to.  _ “...y’ sure?”

“Yes.”

“...Wait, you were wearing a shirt yesterday morning wi--”

“That was a coincidence.” 

Sonic glances to Snake, and back to the thing above his head he wishes would just disappear and never bother him again.

“Stop staring at it.” Snake growls, his brows knitted together.

Sonic looks back to him, a blank look on his face. “Wha--? I-- no, I wasn’t staring at anything.” He then goes back to looking at the exclamation point, aloofly waving his hand. “Continue.”

_ “You’re still staring at it.”  _ Snake pouts.

“Nooo, you’re just imagining that I am.” Sonic, despite his tone, has a playfully-chaotic smirk on that stupid muzzle of his. “Besides, you said this isn’t normal for you. I’m jus’ keeping an eye on it.”

_ “Maybe if you stop staring at it, it’ll disappear.” _

“Ah-hah!” The blue-furred hedgehog looks back to Snake, snapping his fingers. “You wouldn’t know how to get rid of it _ unless  _ it’s normal for ya!”

The mercenary narrows his eyes. The _ !  _ floating above him idly flickers, its holographic-like pattern scrolling at a constant tempo.

Sonic shrugs his shoulders, closing his eyes and nodding. “Snake. Snaaaake. _ Lying  _ to someone. What a role model.” He playfully sings, gesturing to the mercenary before him.

At this point, Snake just wants to fade away, never to be seen again. 

(Unfortunately, considering there’s an emerald pair of eyes on him, he really can’t do that right now.)

So, instead, Snake just resigns himself to his fate, sighing tiredly. “...There’s many more people I’ve lied to than just you, kid.”

Sonic opens his eyes, looking to the hardened soldier once more. There’s a curious sort of look in his eyes, a curious innocence Snake hasn’t seen in a very long time. There’s no hint of malicious intent to the way the hedgehog presents himself, not even with how he speaks to the hardened soldier. It’s all in good spirit, or at least Snake hopes so anyway.

“...Huh.” Sonic then quickly shakes his head. “--I mean-- that’s understandable. For you. Maybe.” He rocks on his ankles, stretching out his arms, his eyes flickering to the carpeted ground.

There’s another period of silence.

Snake is just about to open his mouth, to ask about that strange explosion that interrupted his Very Important Game of Trouble™, when--

“...Oh, by the way, I was sparring with Ryu, and--” Sonic’s familiar, cheeky smirk is back, as he looks down the hallway. “I kinda set off a Bomber. You know, those lil’ dudes from Kirby’s world.”

Snake casts a glance at the hedgehog, and he can’t help but show just the tiniest of smiles on his features. He shakes his head, “New items?”

“Yeah!” Sonic whirls around, his eyes shining. “I don’t think the Mansions’ been renovated to support them, though. I felt the ground shaking. And stuff.” He bites his lip, “...Ah.”

Snake finally gets to his feat, and remembers just how short Sonic is once he’s back leaning against the wall. “Better tell the higher-ups, then.”

Even Sonic looks surprised, his eyes widening for a fraction of a second. He scoffs thereafter, “I _ could  _ just leave it to you, though.”

“Don’t even try.” Snake glares at the hedgehog.

Sonic only laughs. “Noted!” He starts jogging on the spot, “Welp, this is the part where I leave. See you around?” He casts a hopeful look to Snake, who jokingly rolls his eyes.

“I guess.” He huffs, and the blue hedgehog grins. With a two-fingered salute, Sonic tears down the hallway, almost knocking over a coffee-cup holding Ridley - who proceeds to screech in the hedgehog’s direction.

Snake lets out a small chuckle, though he quickly proceeds to straighten up, putting on his Super Serious persona once more.

He does a double-take, and, when he’s sure no-one is looking, feels for a certain projection above his head. He’s relieved to find there is absolutely _ nothing. _

_ “--Snake!”  _ Otacon’s voice suddenly breaks through Snake’s codec, making him jump for a second. _ “Jeez, I was wondering when you’d pick up again!” _

“...Oops.” Snake readjusts the volume on his transmitter.

_ “Rude.”  _ Otacon deadpans. _ “Anyway, did you find Sonic? You sound strangely relaxed now.” _

The mercenary lightly hums. “Yeah. He’s not as bad as I thought, I guess.”

_ “Of course he isn’t!”  _ Otacon groans, and Snake smirks to himself. _ “Next time we speak, I want you to have re-examined your personal biases. For my sake.” _

“I’ll see what I can do.” Snake deadpans. He hangs up the call, before slowly nodding his head, still leaning against the plaster-sealed walls of the Smash Mansion.

[time!]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry i didn't mean to make you guys wait this long!! i kept re-writing this chapter over and over, remind me to never end a previous chap on a cliffhanger again because that shit sucks to write around ;w; anyway this ones' kinda semi-longer than the others (or not i dunno) in my attempt to make up for the wait, apologies once more :<
> 
> anyway next up, a dynamic that i've never seen before, one i really wanna explore!! try and guess, even though you could probably guess any character at this point oops--


	6. Mega Man.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
_Data Irretrievable._   


* * *

“Look, it’s starting now!” The lunchroom’s massive projector flickers to life. Fighters from all different walks of life are flocking to the screen to watch the match live.

Snake, on the other hand, stays at the back. He chews on a sandwich, quietly observing the fighter at the centre of today’s event — Mega Man.

“Ah, Mr. Snake!” Isabelle suddenly appears at his side, and he almost leaps out of his seat because_ jesus christ how. _

Instead, he flinches just a bit, the familiar exclamation mark everyone’s come used to seeing flickering for a second above his head.

Isabelle falters, her eyes crinkling in concern. “Sorry, Mr. Snake— I just wanted to say that Rocks’ fighting out in the field right now! I was wondering if you wanted to watch with us.” She then smiles, the bells on her head jingling lightly.

Snake stares at her, slowly cocking a brow. “...Rock?”

Isabelle nods, beaming as usual. “Yeah! He’s fighting in a Horde Battle! Come see, come see!”

Before the hardened soldier can question her further, Isabelle pulls him to his feet with a surprising amount of strength, beckoning him along. The two make their way through the crowd — Snake spots Samus in her Zero Suit, smirking at him as she glances to Isabelle —, and Snake crouches down for the shorter fighters at the front. On the screen, he sees Mega Man duking it out with multiple, different-coloured clones of himself. 

Mega Man was always an… interesting fighter, in Snake’s eyes anyway. For one, he’d arrived during the tournament that Snake skipped, for personal reasons he wasn’t going to get into. Another was concerning the fact that Mega Man wasn’t the kind of robot R.O.B or the…_ Metal Gears _were - he was, from a glance, a young boy donning a cheap cosplay of Samus’ Power Suit.

(But believe it or not, Mega Man is a highly-advanced android, from a future that’s probably leagues better than Snake’s own home universe.)

...Now he’s wondering about this ‘Rock’ person. On the screen, Mega Man flinches as a bullet similar to his own ricochets off his armor, summoning a bunch of leaves to surround him in what Snake can only assume is a strange-looking defence mechanism. He hasn’t even fought the robot before, so he can’t really specify - he’s only seen him up-close when the younger fighters delivered a tough-looking pink puff to him the other day, and even then he didn’t catch much more than that.

He turns to Isabelle, “Wait, who’s Rock?”

She glances at him from the side, a confused look on her features. “What do yo— Oh!” Her tail flicks up, her eyes wide. She suddenly laughs, and strange blue shapes materialise out of thin air next to her. “It’s Mega Man’s real name!”

“...Oh.” Snake, all of a sudden, feels just a bit self-conscious. “...But we all call him Mega Man.”

“Correct!_ You _ all call him Mega Man,” Isabelle playfully winks, a cartoonish star popping into existence right beside her. “But I bet if you asked him, he’d prefer the name _ Rock.” _

“Huh.” Snake thoughtfully nods. “...To be honest, I didn’t think he even had a conscious.”

Isabelle pouts, her tail drooping, but before she can say much more, a loud_ ‘GAME!’ _shouts through the projector’s speakers.

* * *

After Meg—_ Rock’s _match concluded, it was back to the usual activity for most of the Smash Mansion’s residents. Today, Snakes’ training in the underground floors of the locale — the holographic sparring centre being surprisingly advanced for where it’s located.

One jab. Another. He tackles the poor sandbag at one point, watching as it flies off the sky-high platforms touring Delfino Island. Then it reappears right next to the super soldier, sagging to the ground as if it was never hit at all.

After this repeats a total of two more times, Snake finally sits down, and the training area reverts to its familiar gridded pattern. He resists the urge to spawn a cigarette, instead going for a spare pack of rations he keeps on himself_ just in case, _when the doors to the arena suddenly slide open, revealing none other than the Blue Bomber himself. 

He’s without a helmet, revealing spunky, brown hair that Snake almost confuses for real hair — in the robot’s hand is a strange-looking can, from which he drinks from it using a straw.

Rock looks up, and freezes at the sight of Snake, of whom sits on the default stage itself, picking through a can of rations. The hardened soldier meets his gaze, unintimidated, and casually lifts a hand in what the blue-clad android assumes is his way of a loose, acquainted greeting.

“Hey.” Snake calls out. “You’re Rock, right?”

Rock almost chokes on his E-Tank for a second, but he manages to put on a smile. “A-At least you’re not calling me Mega Man!” He cries back.

From where he stands, the robot misses the smile that passes Snake by. 

The hardened soldier gets to his feet, and quickly jogs over to the robot, offering his own gloved hand. “I figured you had a better name.”

Despite the subject, Rock actually has to stifle a snort. “You’re not wrong!” He shakes Snake’s hand, noting the somewhat-loose grip, “How’d you find out?”

“Isabelle.” Snake rolls his eyes, and the blue-clad robot lightly titters.

A few sparring sessions later, and the two are relaxing off-boundary after Snake made the amazing discovery concerning the fact that Rock has a robot_ dog. _

“So,” Rock smiles at the look on Snake’s face - the hardened soldier lightly scratches Rush behind the ears, who pants happily. “What do you think of the tournament so far?”

Snake looks to Rock, humming. “It’s good, I suppose. Allows me a break from my own world.”

“Yeah!” Rock rapidly nods, grinning as Rush copies his movements. “I’m constantly having to save the—_ my _world all the time. It gets really tiring, y’know?”

“Mm.” Snake doesn’t meet the android’s gaze. He does smile at the affectionate nuzzle from Rush, which is nice. “My world works a bit differently. I don’t really save it, if I’m being honest. I just delay its eventual…”

He trails off, glancing at Rock for a second. The mercenary shakes his head, “...Doesn’t matter. Are you enjoying yourself?”

Rock nods once more. “Uh-huh. It’s been fun meeting all different kinds of people, learning about them and stuff, and, well, fighting them is cool too.” He laughs, and even Snake smirks at that last sentence. “I participated in the fourth tournament, so I’m happy to tell you anything you need to know about this competition!”

Snake lightly tilts his head, Rush doing the same. “...Oh. This isn’t my first tournament either.”

The duo go quiet.

“Ah!” Rock suddenly blushes, “Sorry to assume, I thought…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Snake waves off the robot’s concerns. “I didn’t attend last year. I was in the third tournament, the ‘Brawl’ variant.”

“Ohhh! That makes sense.” Rock scratches his head. “It must feel nice to be back, I guess.”

Snake grunts in agreement, looking above towards the lights that power the training arena. “...Yeah, it is.”

The two - or three, counting the robot dog Snake has sworn his entire life to - sit, relaxing, taking in each other’s company.

* * *

As Snake shuts the door to his room, his codec starts buzzing. He goes to answer—

_ “Wait, you met _ _ the _ _ Mega Man?!” _ Otacon shouts through the radio stream, and Snake chuckles to himself. _ “You didn’t even tell me he was here!” _

“You didn’t ask.” The super soldier replies, shrugging. Otacon groans, and mutters something along the lines of_ ‘never being able to meet his heroes’. _

[time!]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah theres never enough of this good wholesome content!! snake will never get enough of dogs, he loves his babeys too much omg,,,
> 
> next up - a little somethin i like to call a ‘Spirit Special’! more info to come~~~ also if you’re up late reading this then dont be like me, please i beg you go the heck to sleep—


End file.
